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Friday, April 30, 2010

Happy Friday, everyone! It's Mercy here with another installment of Dollar Find Friday! Before we get started with that, I wanted to remind you to join us tonight on the right here on the TSG Forum for our TSG Friday Night Chat! The chat officially begins at 7:00 PM Pacific Time (10 PM EST), but feel free to stop in at any time during the day to say hello :)

Now for my Dollar Find Friday project!

What is Dollar Find Friday? Every Friday the featured Trendsetter will share a project with you that was created using an item that costs $1 or less. Everyone loves a good bargain...now we will show you some ideas on how to actually use those great finds!

I lucked out at one of my local craft supply stores this week. I was redeeming a gift certificate, and spotted a pack of the prettiest purple buttons while I was standing in line at the cash register! What made it even better was that they were marked down to $0.75!

As soon as I saw them, I knew that I had to grab them up and use them for my Dollar Find Friday post. I decided to create a Card Candy Gift Package, and here's how I did it:

1. I stamped the large flowers and outlined leaves from the "Dance" stamp set in Black Ink onto White Cardstock, and colored them with Copic Sketch Markers.

2. I had some leftover Clear Candy Film from a local candy-making supply store, and I cut it into a 6" square. You can also use Clear Cardstock, Window Sheets, or Acetate cut to whatever size is appropriate for the packaging of your choice.

3. I assembled the flowers, leaves, buttons, and Silver Cording. Then I attached the completed flowers to the Clear Candy Film using Dimensionals.

4. I packaged the completed sheet in a Clear Candy Package, then added a Purple Cardstock topper with Silver Brads to seal the top. You could also use Cello Bags or Clear Treat Bags for packaging.

That's it for me! What do you think? I know that I'll definitely be making more of these for my girls when we get together for our stamping weekends, and as birthday and thank you gifts for some of my other stamping friends. The possibilities are limitless, so get in your craft room and start creating!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

It's time for the Trendsetting Spotlight!Each Thursday we feature a card made by someone who has participated in the previous week's TSG Challenge. Would you like to be in the Trendsetting Spotlight?? Join in the fun by participating in our weekly challenges posted every Monday!

Happy Thursday, Friends!

I am SOOOOOOOO sorry this is late getting posted. I would have sworn that today was Wednesday! One of my boys said something about tomorrow being Friday and my heart started racing. I am so hiring a secretary! Ha!

Anyway.... without further ado.... today's spotlight stamper is Arielle Gordon!When I was oogling all of the challenge cards, I came across this gorgeous creation by Arielle...

I knew immediately that I had to feature Arielle's card and her fresh style in today's spotlight.

After a couple e-mails back and forth, I learned a few things about Arielle...

Originally from Alabama (gotta love a 'Bama girl!), Arielle has lived in New Orleans and San Francisco, but is back home now. She studied graphic design in college and has dabbled in printmaking.

Arielle's go to embellishment is buttons. She is also a challenge junkie, much like the lot of us! Yay!!

A mother of two babies under age two (see those cuties!!), Arielle has a full schedule with work, kids, keeping a house and all her other passions, which include reading, gardening, camping and of course.........stamping!

It is great to know you, Arielle! Thanks so much for sharing your world with us. You can find more of Arielle's refreshing work on her blog ~ Snappy Stampin' w/Arielle.

Make sure you play along in the challenges and YOU might be our next spotlight stamper!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

What is Wednesday Trends / TSG Tips & Tricks? Every Wednesday the featured Trendsetter will either share a stamping trend that they love or will show you new ways to use their favorite TSG stamp sets! I hope you are inspired by this tutorial, and that you will try it out for yourself! :)

Hi there! It's Mercy here with this week's Wednesday Trends! You all know how much I adore paper piercing, and I have received a plethera of emails inquiring about my Circle Piercing. I thought I would take this opportunity to share the secret with you all.

1. Here's what you'll need to get started:

Paper Piercer

Piercing Mat

Plastic Canvas Mesh Shape- Round (you can find these at your local craft store in the Needlework section in several different shapes)

An Assembled Card Front

2. Place card front onto piercing mat.

3. Using grid on the center of the plastic mesh, line up the outside of your patterned paper circles or other circular element. Pierce around the entire element using the mesh shape as a guide. You can pierce the circular element, or pierce around the outside of it as I did.

4. Remove mesh shape guide to reveal your piercing.

5. Pierce around all the patterned paper circles, and attach the card front to the card base to complete your card.

That's it for me! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and I hope you'll give it a try for yourself...I'd love to see your creations that incorporate Circle Piercing! Thanks for stopping by to see this week's trend!

Monday, April 26, 2010

It's Trendsetter Tuesday here on the TSG blog and Lord Have Mercy! We've got a sketchy lady featured this week ;) That's right my girl Mercy is our Trendsetter of the week and I'm sure she has some great things to share with you! Make sure you stop by her blog to check out her beautiful creations.

This week’s challenge is brought to us by our Trendsetter of the week, (the sketch master herself) Mercy! She has supplied us with this wonderful sketch, and we can’t wait to see your interpretation of this layout!

To be eligible for the giveaway, you are to create a card that using the sketch above, then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the Mr. Linky that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (May 3). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

By participating in this challenge, you may also find yourself in the Trendsetting Spotlight that shines on the TSG Blog every Thursday. We will be on the look out to find challenge cards that stand out and show Trendsetting qualities. TSG stamps are not required to participate in the challenges but are appreciated :)

You do not need to have a blog to be able to participate in the TSG Challenges! You can simply add the URL link from your project after it has been uploaded to your online craft gallery. If you upload your card to an online craft gallery, please use the keyword TSG52 so we can check out your beautiful work!

Need some inspiration to help you get started? Check out these great cards made by the following Trendsetters!
~Jessica
~Mercy
~Pam
- Jodi-Jessie-Donna Winner from last week's TSG51 Tag challenge: Kim Yu
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:10
Timestamp: 2010-04-26 07:32:15 UTC

Congratulations to all of the winners! Send me an email with your info so that I can get your goodies sent out to you :)

Now on to this week's fabulous week in review!!

All week long the Trendsetters have been hard at work showing off the three brand new stamp sets that were just released (and are available on the TSG website I might add!). Now you get the chance to win one of these gorgeous cards!!! Keep reading to find out how....

What is Week In Review (WIR)?- WIR is where we showcase cards made by the Trendsetters and myself throughout the week. Not only to you get to see gorgeous projects made using TSG stamps, but you also have a chance to WIN one of these cards! Leave a comment on this post and tomorrow (Monday) I will choose a winner using a random number generator. That person will then get to pick out their favorite card and the Trendsetter that created it will send it to them :)